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The Shrieking Shack?

Mutters to self: I before E except after C...

Oh, hello!

I just had a quick question about the rooms of the Shrieking Shack.
Supposedly it is like a 2-story house, correct? But we only ever see two rooms - the main room where the passageway lets out, and the upstairs room with the four-poster bed. (Not counting the hallway or landing as rooms, obviously)

Do you think it plausible that there are any other rooms in the 'shack' besides these two? Or did Dumbledore have it built just to be the right size to contain a werewolf and that is all? No bathrooms, no kitchen, no dining room... although it certainly does seem large enough to have all of these things, but I guess they wouldn't really have a purpose with no one there to use them... But then again, the bed doesn't really have a purpose either unless he thought that Werewolf Remus might want a break from harming himself to take little a nap? I don't know...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Shrieking Shack was already there when Lupin arrived at Hogwarts, and that Dumbledore merely created the passage that led from the Whomping Willow to the house. I think he then encouraged rumours of its being haunted, as it had already been there for a long time.

If that's right, then it would make sense for there to be multiple rooms in the house, including a kitchen and bathroom (although what state they'd be in is pretty questionable). You're right, there doesn't seem to be much point in a bed if Lupin would be in his wolf form whilst there, so I think it would be there from before.

Lupin sighed, and looked directly at Harry. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house" - Lupin looked miserably around the room - "the tunnel that leads to it - they were built for my use..."

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, page 353

See? What the heck? Why would he need a whole house? Why not just a cave or something? Doesn't this bother anyone but me?

Hmmm, I don't suppose it bothers me. Remus was an eleven year old child when he came to Hogwarts and I think Dumbledore would want him treated like a person, not as an animal (in spite of his condition). So I actually think it makes sense that there would be a tunnel and a secure house where he could be safe... and where he would be comfortable enough when he changed back to himself.

Funny though... I didn't remember that the house was built just for him either. Must do a reread soon.

You could also guess that at the time, Dumbledore assumed Remus would only be around Hogwarts / need the Shrieking Shack for 7 years (aka while he was a student). While a cave may not have any long-term use, Dumbledore might have seen the building of this auxiliary house as a long-term investment for Hogwarts-affiliated folk who would need a place to stay in the future. Ideas include married professors or a Headmaster with a family? People whom the Order needed to protect during the First (or then Second, too) War?

One thing about the Shrieking Shack that I've never quite understood from canon is whether Remus used the Shrieking Shack while he was a professor, too. For some reason, I'm under the impression he locked his office and transformed inside there, but then that raises the question: Why did he need the Shrieking Shack as a student? Could Dumbledore have provided him with a private chamber in Hogwarts... I could even see the Room of Requirement being used for this purpose?

My made-up answer to this question is that there have been improvements in the Wolfsbane Potion over the last few decades to make the werewolf form even more human-like, i.e. non-violent. Therefore, now there is little risk of allowing a transformation in the school but when Remus was a kid, his transformation under the influence of the potion was more unpredictable.

My made-up answer to this question is that there have been improvements in the Wolfsbane Potion over the last few decades to make the werewolf form even more human-like, i.e. non-violent. Therefore, now there is little risk of allowing a transformation in the school but when Remus was a kid, his transformation under the influence of the potion was more unpredictable.

I don't have my copy of PoA handy, but there was no Wolfsbane Potion when Remus was going to school. He became a werewolf and clawed and screamed in the house, which is why everyone thought it was haunted. The presence of his friends as animals helped calm him down, but it was always risky because he could have gotten away from them or run into other humans.

Wolfsbane Potion is a relatively new invention and allowed him to curl up in his office, "a harmless wolf" and wait for the full moon to go away.

I think the Shrieking Shack was a necessary precaution to hold a violent, dangerous werewolf that only wanted to scratch and bite people. It was a whole house because Remus needed to go to the shack as a human child and it would make him feel better to have a normal looking house to stay in, instead of a cave.

Could Dumbledore have provided him with a private chamber in Hogwarts... I could even see the Room of Requirement being used for this purpose?

Dumbledore didn't know of the existence of the RoR. He'd used it when it was a bathroom, but that was all. When Harry is asking Sirius if he can think of a place to use for DA, he can't think of anything, which suggests the Marauders had no idea the RoR existed either. (Possibly James and Lily did and never told Sirius or the others)

From what I can remember of POA, Remus says he takes Wolfsbane and falls asleep in his office/quarters. I imagine the Shrieking Shack was used because of its isolation from the school. A private chamber in the castle is more likely to be discovered than a tunnel which starts at the Whomping Willow, but then I'm surprised it was only Snape who saw Madam Pomfrey leading Remus down there at dusk.